Grace Dover Messages

Sermon by Dr. Jonathan Seda, from Exodus 17-17 & Romans 5.1-11.

Wars around the world; political, racial & economic clashes in our country; difficulties, sickness & deep disappointments; personal failures in the way we live & think.  All these can leave us with an underlying feeling of anxiety that nags us and sometimes brings feelings of despair.  So, we often try to displace or drown these feelings with activity and distractions.  But, these are of no avail.  At best, they offer temporary relief.  What we need is a peace that transcends all of this … a peace that will guard our hearts and our minds through all the joys and sorrows of this life.  And it is just such a peace that Paul places before us in today's New Testament lectionary reading in Romans 5.1-11.  Paul wants us to know that We Have Peace because we have been justified by faith alone, because we are reconciled to God, and because we have hope in the glory of God which we will experience at the renewal of all things.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Psalm 121 & Matthew 17:1-9.

We are in the season of Lent and we are making a journey, following the Lord Jesus to the cross. But given the arduous nature of the journey it is one that we cannot make in our own strength. We need help. The text for this week's message asks a great question, "From where does my help come?" People are looking for help in all kinds of things and people. Psalm 121 tells us the who, why, and the what about our help. Matthew 17 personifies the answer. He is the real answer spoken by a voice from the cloud that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am will pleased; listen to him." The help you need is in Jesus. As you are making your journey through this troublesome world, what is your answer to the question, "From where does my help come?"

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Joshua 6:5 & Ephesians 2:11-18.

The nature of a wall is to keep things out while providing protection for things that are within. But what happens if the wall becomes prohibitive to something that is helpful and wholesome? Then the wall needs to come down. The trouble with knowing when a wall needs to come down is that we think the reason the wall was built is unalterable. God shows us that there are times that walls should be removed. Like the case of the walls of Jericho. God was giving the city to his people. The walls were a hinderance to their progress. In the case of the temple, the dividing wall was a literal barrier of the hostility between the Jews and Gentiles. The wall communicated that they were not equals. Jesus broke down the dividing wall of hostility showing that Jew and Gentile are equals before God. Christ in his body and through his blood, has broken down the wall and has brought us near to God. What is the practical meaning of this? It means that Christians above all people ought to pursue peace. Christians, of all people, should be able to identify and remove walls that are hostile to living out the status of being one with God. This sermon is from Monday, February 20's reading of "On the Shoulders of Giants." The message's aim is to equip and encourage us in the pursuit of identifying and applying the gospel to the dividing walls of hostility that seeks to disturb the peace that Christ has given through his body and blood. A peace that we identify with in The Lord's Supper.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Psalm 78:1-8  & Ephesians 3:14-21.

This Sunday's sermon is taken from day 15 of the devotional, "On the Shoulders of Giants". The story of Mary McLeod Bethune is one that inspires us to think about what we are doing to equip the next generation in responding to the covenanted love of God in Christ. If God has given his grace to his people through glorious deeds and wonders of the cross of Christ, then the church, Christ's people, are obligated to always pass the story down to the next generation. If this is true, then it behooves us to understand what we are passing down, how we pass it down, and why its necessary to pass it down. Then in handing off the knowledge of God's covenanted love in Christ to the next generation, each one successively shows that the goodness, beauty, power, wisdom and glory of God is too much for any one family to hold. Therefore, just as his glory goes on forever so will the generations continually making known the fullness of God.

Sermon by Joshua Suh, Associate Pastor, from Exodus 14:10-14 & Acts 4:23-31.

As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, we are reminded of the many stories of how God led so many slaves and oppressed people to freedom, both literally and spiritually. This is the heart of God; to fight for the oppressed and defenseless. As Christians, we are called to “fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord."

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Psalm 107:1-9 & Acts &:44-53

This is the first sermon in a series of messages out of Our Daily Bread's devotional book titled, "On the Shoulders of Giants." This message based on the reading of February 1st is one that focuses on cultivating a heart for celebrating the redemption that God brings to his people. The story of redemption is one that is larger and grander than any one culture. No one culture can claim that they have cornered the market on God's redemption! Yet Christ saves people from every ethnicity. We don't naturally celebrate this truth. In America the division of faith between Black and White believers is still tense, but it shouldn't be since we are both saved through the same Savior and then placed in the same Body of Christ! Celebrating and rehearsing stories of what God did to save us is key to cultivating a heart for celebrating the redeeming power of God. This month's testimonies of how God saved Black people is encouraging to other people who are being saved. Cultivating a heart for celebrating the redemption of God's people requires you to know what you've been redeemed from, while being certain of where this redemption leads, and deriving satisfaction in how this redemption comes to us, yet being careful of the consequences of misunderstanding redemption's history.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Psalm 15 & Matthew 5:1-12

There was an old television commercial about an investment firm whose tag line was, "When E.F. Hutton speaks, everyone listens." Well, E.F. Hutton is gone and no one can hear him now. But Jesus Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, opened his mouth and taught his disciples, and people have been listening ever since. Jesus opened his mouth and taught his followers things that the world and its leaders couldn't provide. He taught things that were out of this world, i.e. things of the kingdom of heaven. This sermon will remind us how living in this world requires help from another. The ancient world and the present world looked for help from outside of this world. Help has come, bringing blessings of other worldly riches, an alien righteousness, mercy, purity,  peacemaking sonship, and joyful suffering. Does this sound otherworldly to you? Jesus opens his mouth to speak to his people who are in the world, to change the world, as he brings worlds together. Earth and heaven are brought together in Jesus Christ. For this reason what he said was unlike anything they had ever heard. When he opened his mouth and had finished his sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching. And so should we.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Isaiah 9:1-4 & I Corinthians 1:10-18.

The Corinthian Church is not too different from today's church. They had factious fights, starstruck followers, and attempts to strip the cross of its effect. People were looking for power in their lives then and now.  But how you respond to the word of the cross will determine if you are foolish and perishing in your search, or, in your search, you are being saved and experiencing  the power of God. What is the word of the cross? From our text we see that it is based in the character of Christ, evidenced by unity in Christ, that is strengthened by preaching Christ's cross, so that who you are is revealed by the word of the cross. This third Sunday after Epiphany makes manifest the Living Word of the cross as the point where the former and latter times of Isaiah 9:1 meets. If you are feeling powerless, suffering divisions, and the joy of your salvation is suffering from anemia, you need to know what the good news of word of the cross is to be for your soul.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Deuteronomy 13:6-11 & Mark 10:28-31

This Sunday we are coming back to our series on the gospel and human sexuality; how the gospel is good news for the sexually broken. Those who struggle with their sexual brokenness also struggle with loneliness. Those who are seeking to follow Jesus and yet struggle with same-sex attraction often, in the words of our denomination's  ad interim report on human sexuality, "have found limited support and encouragement in their desire to follow Christ." In representing the gospel that claims a new birth to all whom God wills to be his children, the church must be a community that seeks to be family even to the sexually broken. But how does this happen? Christ says that anyone who leaves his family for his sake and the gospel is to find manifold family members in this life and in the age to come. But how? That is the question this sermon seeks to answer.

Sermon by Kenny Foster, Senior Pastor, from Isaiah 42:1-9 & Acts 10:34-43

This sermon's focus is on the Epiphany of Jesus Christ which holds a lot of instruction for the nations and the Church. Christ's appearing is the will of God going forward since God raised him from the dead and made him to appear. It is for the nations to understand the supreme position that God has given to his Son. It is for the Church to understand what they are witnesses of and how they are to promote that witness. Jesus' epiphany is for every person, regardless of their ethnicity, to know what God intends to do with the sins of all who believe through his name. Because of Jesus' epiphany, the nations have hope for unity, the church has the means to fight ethnic pride and tribalism, and the guilt of sin is removed, and the Scripture is fulfilled.